This past Sunday (May 26), a severe thunderstorm moved through the Detroit area, forcing the city’s Movement festival to temporarily shut down during its second day. The festival issued an evacuation notice to attendees at approximately 6:45 p.m. on Sunday evening, then reopened later that night at 10:00p.m. after the storm had passed.
The temporary closure forced organizers to move a few of the Sunday night sets, including a scheduled 7:00p.m. performance by techno mainstay Nicole Moudaber, who ultimately did not end up playing.
After the festival, Moudaber explained the situation, writing on X this past Monday (May 27) that “After the rain stopped they called me up to come play at 10pm, I rushed over there, my table was ready to be plugged in but the dj that was supposed to play after me didn’t want to move his set up to accommodate me. As a result, I didn’t play, there was complete silence for a whole hour while people were waiting for the music to start again.
“I have dismantled set ups in the past because of rude behaviour [sic],” Moudaber continued. “I did not do it this time because I love Movement and the people behind it Absolutely shocking to say the least. I know a lot of people came to see me and I’m sorry this has happened.”
Richie Hawtin played this 10:00 p.m. Sunday night slot, debuting his new stage show DEX EFX XOX.
Now, following her initial comments, Moudaber has today (May 29) issued a statement acknowledging that “Having talked with everyone involved, I can now see that no one is to blame for what happened — if anything, we can blame it on the weather!
“Severe storms meant that the festival was evacuated for 3.5 hours before I returned to play my 10pm set,” her statement continues. “Naturally, this threw everything into chaos. The set up for the person playing after me was complicated, and I can appreciate why they needed to keep it intact for their own set.
“Additionally, while the team at Movement did everything possible to accommodate me, they were under a lot of stress following the storm and it wasn’t easy to source the additional monitors required. I have nothing but love for this festival and for the city of Detroit, where I have made so many wonderful memories over the years, and I look forward to returning to play ASAP (ideally the sun will be shining next time)! Love, Nicole”
Movement Festival continued without issue for the rest of the weekend, closing out its third day on Monday, May 27 with performances from Fatboy Slim, Honey Dijon, Indira Paganotto, Seth Troxler and a host of other electronic artists. Festival producer Paxahau also offered free Monday festival entrance for Sunday ticket holders.